I've known of Michael for a while now as my mate Matt worked with him for a video on one of his first songs, he's always had talent but his debut for me didn't make me think he was going to be much more than a good / middling success singer / songwriter. Im glad to say I was very wrong! Love & Hate is a modern day masterpiece that offers so much more than a man with a guitar - its EPIC. From the lush slow burning 10 minute opener of Cold Little Heart you know this is going to be a special record. It would sound bloody fantastic live, backed by an orchestra and I want to be there when it happens. I'm still gutted that he had to cancel his NYC show at the end of the year.

His rich voice is still front and centre, but like the composition of the songs it's matured and lyrically its one of the best of the year.

Jeff Rosenstock has been around ages and I know some of my NYC punk loving friends will have likely heard of him in one of his many bands, but for me this album was my first exposure of Jeff. Specifically he appeared on the Chris Gethard Show (one of my faves, check out) and rocked the hell out. On Worry, he writes smart, funny, indie punk shout-a-longs with ease and it seems like a direct response to all the shit 2016 has thrown at us. My personal fave off this is called "HELLLLHOOOOLE" but that doesnt have a video so here's another good one.

Falsetto vocals, summery vibes, acoustic guitar, a bit of horns here and there. They remind me of Teenage Fanclub. Light upon the Lake is a beautiful debut from Whitney. Barely a duff track on the record but the singles No Woman and Golden Days are standouts.

Bon Iver are one of my favourite bands. But this album frustrated me so much at first, from the stupid code like names of the songs to what seems like forced weirdness pushed into potentially classic Bon Iver tracks and the ultimate sin - the VOCODER. Why do that to your beautiful voice Justin?! I get it, you're an artist, you get bored, you want to exercise your creative chops.

For a while it felt like he was rebelling against himself and his fans, but repeated listens exposes the beauty and the genius of 22 A Million. It's a wonderfully creative album that still has the hooks and melodies of old Bon Iver, even if you have to work a little hard to understand them than previous efforts.

I would just like to show my hipster credentials here for a second, Ive loved Francis for YEARS. This year though has seen him pop-up everywhere from Bon Iver to Kanye, to Chance the Rapper and more. He's a producer / composer in demand. So why then can he not make the main stream hits for himself? Im not sure, but this is another solid album of electro soul pop from the very odd recluse. Also massive props for getting Justin Vernon to dance in this vid.

Gravel voiced lead singer of The Walkmen (Leithauser) teams up with equally weird named ex Vampire Weekend jack-of-all-trades (Batmanglij) for this side project. The opening track (and standout) on this record is "A 1000 times", which is apt as that's probably how many times i've played it. It's just great rock songwriting that sounds like they've been a band forever. I hope they do more stuff together as its clearly working.

There's so much going on in this much anticipated follow-up to Channel Orange by Frank it's hard to point to a single track on it. It might have even appeared higher up my list if it hadn't been an Apple Music exclusive for the first month or so, which I refused to get on principal. I think Frank Ocean crosses genre's, it's definitely hip hop at its core, but if you're an indie fan you'll find plenty to like here as there's a lot of guitar and keys. Like most hip hop albums though it suffers from too many tracks, cut out 5 from the 17 and you have a much tighter experience.

In which Donald Glover adds another string to his already pretty full bow. Seemingly not happy with being a successful comedian, actor and hip-hop artist, Donald adds Funk/Soul sex-god to his list of talents. And you know what? It makes you want to cry a little, its just not fair! How can one man be that good at all these things?! Its a complete transformation from his previous musical offerings instead relying heavily on Prince, Sly and George Clinton. It's an homage, but he adds his own personality to it. "Redbone" is one of the tracks of the year, and even though the album dies a little towards the end the first 3/4's could sit alongside Sly and the Family Stone and no-one would bat an eyelid.

A real return to form for me. I feel like they've been slowly clawing their way back after their infamous grab for punk-pop stardom (which I still dont understand...). I didn't really get involved with all that, I liked the early stuff and I like this too. Is it the same, no? Will it appease some of those fans that got mad? Im not sure. Do I care? No. Its a great album in my eyes and has some classic Weezer songs like "Do you Wanna get High?", "Thank God for Girls" and "King of the World" plus something a bit different "I Love the USA".